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 Trichia verrucosa
SynonymsTrichia superba
BiostatusPresent in region - Indigenous. Non endemic
Images (click to enlarge)
Caption: Sporangia of Trichia verrucosa. The intact sporangia on the right are about 3 mm tall.
Owner: S.L. Stephenson |
Article: Stephenson, S.L. (2003). Myxomycetes of New Zealand. Fungi of New Zealand. Ngā Harore o Aotearoa 3: xiv + 238 p. Hong Kong: Fungal Diversity Press.
Description: Fruiting body a stalked (or very rarely sessile) sporangium, several clustered on a united stalk, gregarious to scattered, up to 4 mm tall. Sporotheca pyriform or obovoid, bright yellow to ochraceous, up to 0.8 mm in diameter. Stalk thick, rugose, ofen flattened or procumbent, yellow-brown to dark reddish brown, translucent above and dark below, up to 2 mm long. Hypothallus contiguous for a group of sporangia, conspicuous, usually horny but sometimes membranous, colourless to dark brown. Peridium membranous, translucent, often somewhat thickened by granular deposits, dehiscence apical, leaving a cup- or vase-shaped base with the margin irregular or divided into petaloid lobes. Capillitium bright ochraceous yellow, consisting of free elaters 4-8 µm in diameter, marked with 3–5 spirals, these smooth or bearing a few scattered spines, with short, tapering tips. Spores bright ochraceous in mass, bright yellow by transmitted light, coarsely and prominently reticulate, 12–16 µm in diameter. Plasmodium white.
Habitat: Decaying wood or bark; occasionally fruiting on bryophytes.
Distribution: Widely distributed throughout temperate regions of the world (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969) but rare in the Northern Hemisphere and exceedingly common in the Southern Hemisphere. First reported from New Zealand by Colenso (1891), based on a specimen collected in Hawkes Bay. Also known from Auckland, Taranaki (Lister & Lister 1905), Taupo, Wellington, Buller, Westland, Fiordland, North Canterbury, South Canterbury, Dunedin, Southland, Stewart Island (Lister & Lister 1905), and Campbell Island, but undoubtedly present elsewhere.
Notes: Trichia verrucosa is one of the most commonly encountered myxomycetes in the forests of New Zealand. Interestingly, it is rare in forests of the Northern Hemisphere (Farr 1958). Sporangia of this species are often colonised by the fungus Polycephalomyces tomentosus.
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